


Wherever there is you, I will be there too

by theharleyquinn



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26564116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theharleyquinn/pseuds/theharleyquinn
Summary: When her name is called three years later to participate in the special edition of the games, the 3rd Quarter Quell, Toni isn't even surprised. Luck had been on her side once, so it isn't shocking that she’s run out of it by this point.Maybe she just isn't destined to have a happy ending, after all.But when she learns that Cheryl has been selected to represent her district as well, she can't help but think that at least she will get to talk to her before dying.It's better than nothing.
Relationships: Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz
Comments: 10
Kudos: 44
Collections: Darkest Night 2020





	Wherever there is you, I will be there too

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Corina (CorinaLannister)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorinaLannister/gifts).



The first time she ever sees Cheryl Blossom, it's on TV, as she's announced as the winner of the 70th Hunger Games, giving District 1 yet another victory. At fifteen, Cheryl is the youngest tribute to ever win the tournament, and she would have been lying if she said she wasn't impressed.

Her hair, as bright as the crackling fire, is even more beautiful up close, a fact she learns when the redhead stops by her district during her victory tour.

Two years later, at eighteen, it's Toni Topaz's turn to appear on TV as she comes out victorious from the 72th edition of the games, representing District 7.

And if she looks around for the redhead that hasn't left her thoughts for the past two years during her District 1 visit and feels nothing but disappointment after leaving without seeing her, well, no one has to know about it.

*****

When her name is called three years later to participate in the special edition of the games, the 3rd Quarter Quell, Toni isn't even surprised. Luck had been on her side once, so it isn't shocking that she’s run out of it by this point.

Maybe she just isn't destined to have a happy ending, after all.

But when she learns that Cheryl has been selected to represent her district as well, she can't help but think that at least she will get to talk to her before dying.

It's better than nothing.

*****

It's not a surprise that Cheryl excels during her practice time, using her bow and arrows to get rid of all the adversaries created by the simulator. Not only had she been the youngest person to ever win the games; she had also been the fastest to do it, taking down half the tributes the moment her hands picked up a bow. The other half were dealt with during the rest of the day, the last one dying with an arrow between his eyebrows after a poor attempt at taking her out that resulted in her District 1 partner being murdered, giving her a solo win.

Toni offers her a kind smile as the redhead makes her way back to the equipment room, a soft  _"great job out there!"_ leaving her lips when she's close enough to hear it, but Cheryl ignores her, walking past the pink haired girl without so much as a second glance, let alone a response.

"What's her damage?" Toni asks herself rather than anyone in particular, but a boy suddenly stands next to her and replies either way.

"She's angry," Archie Andrews from District 12 answers, his eyes following the redheaded girl as she makes her way to the other side of the training center to put the bow and quiver back on their place. "Do you know how she ended up at her games?" He asks her, and Toni can only shake her head.

She never really liked reading much about the tributes, at least not until it was her turn to participate in the tournament, so she has no idea what the redhead’s story is beyond what she would mention during interviews with Kevin Keller. She wouldn't be surprised if she volunteered like most of the Districts 1 and 2 tributes do, training all their lives to be a victor when the time comes.

"Her twin brother Jason volunteered the year before she won. He was only fourteen, but he was supposed to be the best Career District 1 had ever seen, so they thought he was ready and that he could be the youngest tribute to ever win the games. He believed it himself, and so did his parents, but Cheryl knew better. She hated the idea of him participating and was opposed to it, but they didn't listen to her. They sent him and an older girl who was supposed to be the best female Career at the time, Midge Klump, as volunteers. As you can imagine, it didn't end well. Midge died the first night, but Jason survived a week, until only him and Malachai from District 11 were left." 

Archie's eyes focus on someone on their left and Toni follows his gaze, seeing Malachai talking to Moose Mason from District 10. When Toni looks past him, she can see Cheryl's eyes shooting daggers at him.

"I guess we know who Cheryl is getting rid of first," the pink haired girl declares with a light chuckle, making the redhead next to her smile.

"Cheryl's parents forced her to be a volunteer the year after her brother died. They told her she had to bring pride to their family's name after Jason had embarrassed them by not winning. Districts 1 and 2 are so obsessed with winning that they don't even care about losing their kids. They only care about bringing a win home. Cheryl is against everything her family stands for and she only won because she didn't want to die, not because she cared about being a victor like the rest of the Careers. So she's angry because she's here again. She never wanted to kill anyone; she just went into survival mode," Archie finishes his explanation of Cheryl's life story and current behavior.

"How do you know all of this?" Toni asks, curious about their friendship or whatever type of relationship was going on between them and, maybe, feeling jealous at the thought.

She knows it's definitely jealousy when she sees Archie smile softly at the question.

"We kind of bonded over our hair color when she visited my district during her victor tour. Her family has a lot of connections, so they let her do whatever she wanted during her tour, which is how she ended up buying bread from me and my mom. We talked for a while before she had to leave, and then we caught up last year when Betty and I visited District 1 during our tour," he pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts. "She has a huge heart and I hate that I'm seeing her again because of this event that shouldn't have happened in the first place. It saddens me knowing how all of this will end because she's my friend, or at least I think she is," Archie concludes.

Toni had heard about Archie Andrews. Everyone in Panem had. His love story with Elizabeth Cooper was already deemed some kind of fairytale. The blonde had volunteered to the games after her pregnant older sister had been chosen and, as a result, Archie had volunteered himself. They had been best friends since they were practically born, a couple as soon as they were old enough to understand love, so he didn't want her to be alone out there. After being the only survivors left, the Capitol had tried to force them to compete against each other to have only one victor but they refused, and after declaring that they would end their own lives, they were granted the victory as a team.

When Toni saw it all play out on TV, she wondered if she would ever feel that strongly about someone. Now, she wishes she had been given the opportunity, but it was already too late.

The brunette offers the boy a sympathetic smile and a squeeze on his arm, hoping to comfort him. "I'm sure she appreciates your friendship, even if it hasn't been shared for long."

"I hope so," Archie says, and when Toni sees him smiling at someone over her shoulder, she doesn't have to turn around to know who he's looking at. The look of pure love on his face speaks for itself. "I will see you around, Topaz," and with a last smile offered in her direction, he says his goodbye before returning to his fianceé.

*****

Toni does really well during her turn practicing her abilities, which isn't much of a surprise because she has always been excellent with her axe, but what actually surprises her is seeing Archie looking at her with calculating eyes, an almost look of interest on his face as she leaves the simulation room, and she's even more shocked when she notices Cheryl looking at her like she's impressed by her display of abilities, lifting a red eyebrow in her direction before going to talk to Archie, Veronica from District 2 and Jughead from District 6.

The brunette pretends not to feel their eyes on her as she goes to return the axe, but when she finally talks herself into looking in their direction, they're having what seems like a very intense and secretive conversation, so she wonders for a moment if she only imagined their gazes following her every movement.

But when Cheryl's chocolate eyes lock with hers from the other side of the room for what feels like just a fraction of a second, she's sure she hadn't been imagining it.

*****

She isn't able to sleep the night before the tournament starts, which she knows is a terrible idea because she can't be tired when the time comes, but she also can't help it.

Toni has no idea what's going on, but since that day at the training center she has been seeing Cheryl, Archie, Veronica, Jughead, and Dilton and Ethel from District 3 having hushed conversations when they think no one is looking. And maybe no one is actually looking, but she has always been a very observant person, so she notices.

Reggie from District 2, as well as Josie from District 5 had briefly joined the conversation earlier after their live interviews with Kevin, an event that had ended abruptly after Archie announced to the world that Elizabeth was pregnant and the audience had gone crazy, but she still couldn't figure out what those secret meetings meant.

One thing was for sure: the games were starting in a few hours, and if all those people were forming an alliance, the odds truly aren't in her favor.

*****

The countdown makes all of her senses come alive; goosebumps covering her skin as she focuses her attention to her surroundings. They're standing over platforms in the middle of a large body of water, a simple path of rocks leading them to their destination. She can't see Chuck Clayton, the male tribute from her district, from where she's standing, but she notices Nick St. Claire from District 1 to her right and that weirdo Chic from District 9 to her left. Somewhere on the other side of the arena, she notices bright long red hair and her heart starts beating a little faster, the realization of what they're about to do finally dawning on her.

Hearing the gun going off, announcing the beginning of the games, awakens something deep within her. Call it her survival instinct or simply delaying the inevitable, but she's sure she has never run as fast as she does on her way to finding an axe.

She grabs the closest backpack she can find before her hand wraps around the handle of an axe, but just as she's about to run away so she can immerse herself to the jungle surrounding them, Nick is standing before her, a sword in his hand and a wicked smile adorning his sadistic face. Toni can't believe she's about to die in the first five minutes of the tournament, but before she can even react and try to defend herself, he's falling to the ground on his knees, blood leaving his mouth in a cough as the arrow that went through his heart ends his life.

Toni's eyes move to the person standing behind Nick's lifeless body, bow still in hand, but she's too shocked by the fact that Cheryl just killed her own district partner to save her life to even thank her for doing it. The redhead doesn't seem to care about though, because before the brunette can even open her mouth to try to say anything, the younger girl is grabbing her hand and making a run for it, leading them to the part of the jungle where Archie and some of the others she had seen him having those hushed conversations with are grouped together, seemingly waiting for more people to arrive.

"What is she doing here?" Reggie asks as soon as he spots her, and for a moment she's afraid that she walked into a trap, but Cheryl's answering before she can.

"She has great abilities that we could use going forward. You saw her at the training center. It's never a bad thing to have some extra help," the redhead explains, but that doesn't seem to calm the others.

"Can we trust her?" Josie asks, and this time it's the other redhead's turn to answer.

"We can," Archie replies with a gentle smile directed at her that she has no problem returning.

"We need to find the others," Cheryl declares once Toni is off the hook, her focus clearly on whatever plan they have going on.

"Can someone  _please_ tell me what's going? Since when do we have an alliance? And who are the others?" Elizabeth asks, her second question directed at Archie, and in that moment Toni realizes that she actually never saw the blonde in those secret meetings so she may be just as lost as she is.

"Elizabeth, we're doing this for you. We're not here to compete in this senseless tournament like they expect us to; we're here to start a revolution. When you decided to defy President Evernever and the Capitol last year, you not only put a target in your back, but you also inspired people from the other districts to dream about a better future, and that's what we're here to do. Together, we're going to escape this hellhole and change Panem." Cheryl's speech warms Toni's heart and she finally sees what Archie had been talking about at the beginning of the week: she's truly different from what people expect her to be.

The blonde looks taken aback at first but she recovers after a few seconds, apparently getting her head in the game and understanding what's currently at stake. "Okay, what's our first move?" Elizabeth asks.

"We have to find Veronica, Jughead, Dilton and Ethel, and then we have to find a way to take out the rest of the tributes before they kill us," Reggie replies, looking at the blonde.

After that, the redheads, who seem to be the leaders, start explaining the rest of the plan. Cheryl, Toni and Reggie will look for the others on the left side of the island, while Archie, Elizabeth and Josie look on the right side. If they find the rest of the team, they will use the mockingjays to communicate with each other, and then they will meet again by the beach in a few hours, either to finally be all together and start the next part of their plan or to regroup and see what to do next.

*****

The first hour of their little search party is mostly quiet. Reggie is leading them, using his height to their advantage and making sure there's nothing dangerous ahead of them while Cheryl stays in the back, turning to look behind them every couple of minutes or whenever they hear anything that could be considered suspicious, which leaves the brunette in the middle of their improvised line and more protected than her companions.

Toni keeps thinking back to the beginning of the games a mere couple of hours prior and how she could be dead by now if it weren't for the redhead, which is why she finds herself slowing down her steps so she can walk next to Cheryl instead of ahead of her.

"I didn't get a chance to thank you before," Toni starts, and when Cheryl looks at her with what can only be described as confusion, she elaborates. "For killing your teammate and saving my life in the process," she concludes with a kind smile and the redhead seems surprised by Toni's words for a second before she shakes her head and composes herself.

"You actually did me a favor by giving me an excuse to kill him practically as soon as all of this started," she stops for a moment, biting her bottom lip in apparent thought before she starts speaking again. "Killing Nicholas St. Clair was a longtime coming and my very own vendetta. I've hated him since my brother Jason and I started our Careers training as kids; his ego and overall personality always rubbed me the wrong way, but my hatred for him reached new levels when he convinced the higher ups and my parents to send Jay Jay to the games. He had won a few years back after our district hadn't seen a victor for quite awhile, so everyone trusted his opinion regarding tributes, and they listened to him. He's one of the main reasons why my dear brother was taken away from me so soon, so seeing the light going out of his eyes as I took his life was a dream come true."

Cheryl tells this tale from her past with her eyes fixed to the back of Reggie's head, using him as a kind of anchor, but she turns her gaze to the slightly shorter girl by her side when Toni grabs her hand and squeezes her fingers, a thankful smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Then I feel honored to have helped you in such an important task. He got what he deserved and that arrow through the heart was beautifully shot, if I may say," Toni smirks in victory when her words pull a soft chuckle from Cheryl, the sound like music to her ears, before she feels the redhead squeezing her hand like she had done before.

Their moment is interrupted by the man walking ahead of them.

"Sorry to interrupt your bonding time or whatever gals being gals do during their free time, but we have a problem!" He points to a strange fog coming from their right, which seems to be chasing Malachai as well as Bret and Donna from District 4, and by the looks of it, it's not your regular harmless mist. "Run!"

With their fingers still interlaced, they follow Reggie's advice and start running in the opposite direction of the fog, Donna's screams of pain reaching their ears until she stops and the only thing they can hear are labored breaths and the sound of feet hitting the ground; it doesn't take long until that's replaced by the pained screams of Malachai and Bret, which come to an end, along with their lives.

The brunette feels Cheryl tugging from her arm, hard, and when she turns to look at her, the redhead is on the ground, her left foot stuck in some thick vines.

"Cheryl!" Toni shouts in a panic, the fog moving at a scary pace towards them.

She swings her axe to the vines, cutting them as fast as she can to free Cheryl, and just as the pale girl is standing up, ready to run once more, Toni feels her left arm burning as the fog touches her lightly covered skin. The brunette screams at the top of her lungs, the pain so intense that she feels like passing out, and it just increases as part of her back and right arm suffer the same treatment, but before she can lose consciousness she feels strong arms lifting her off her feet and carrying her in the opposite direction of the mist.

All Toni sees before blacking out is red hair running ahead of them, and the knowledge that Cheryl is safe makes breathing a little easier.

*****

Toni wakes up to the feeling of a cold hand caressing her arm before shaking her a bit, and the first thing she notices is that the burning sensation is gone. She blinks her eyes open and once they focus she sees Cheryl's dark brown eyes looking down at her, which makes her realize that her head is laying on the redhead's lap.

"How long was I out?" Toni asks as she rubs her eyes before looking up at her makeshift pillow.

"About an hour," a male voice replies, forcing her to break eye contact from Cheryl. "How are you feeling?" Jughead asks her and her brain is definitely still working a little slower than normal because it takes her way too long to remember that he was not with them earlier, and neither was the raven haired girl sitting next to him.

"I'm fine," she assures them as she slowly sits up so she doesn't get dizzy. Her eyes move to her arm to examine it, but a quick once over helps her conclude that everything looks alright and no apparent damage was done. "I have a couple of questions. First of all, how did my arm heal so fast? And also, how did we find Jughead and Veronica?"

Reggie decides to answer her inquiry. "Apparently, Cheryl is an expert on botanical studies and she made us all better with water and some leaves she found. I kinda burned my hand a little when I carried you, but nothing as severe as your injuries."

When Toni's eyes meet Cheryl's face once again, she notices an adorable blush on her cheeks, but before she can comment on it, Reggie is talking again, and she's more awake now to notice Cheryl's hand absently caressing her bare wrist now that they're sitting. They had probably ripped off her long sleeves while she was passed out to tend to her burns.

"And we didn't find Jughead and Veronica. They technically found us when they came to this pond in search of water, so we were just lucky to run into each other," he concludes.

"We have to go back to the beach. The mockingjays have spoken, which means that the others have probably found Dilton and Ethel," Cheryl explains, which was probably the reason why they had woken Toni up in the first place.

"Alright, then lift your pretty butts and let's go! We have a nation to save," Veronica finishes their conversation and everyone does as she says, making their way back to the beach.

*****

The first thing they notice when they arrive at the beach, besides the fact that the others had indeed found Dilton and Ethel, is the small pile of weapons at the center of the arena, more than likely left there as bait by the remaining tributes, as well as backup for themselves.

"We have to get rid of that," Cheryl says as she points to the pile and everyone nods in agreement as they move closer to the edge separating the sand from the water so the redhead has a clearer shot.

Toni sees her picking one of two arrows that look different than the others on her quiver, and when she shoots it to their target the brunette understands why it was so unique as she sees the pile blowing up, the magnitude of the explosion intensifying because Cheryl had shot it directly into what seems like a bag of explosives.

When they start hearing screams followed by cannons being fired, it dawns on them that the rest of the tributes were using the pile as a sort of barricade to protect themselves from the others, so they had killed two birds with one stone.

"I think that was all of them," Josie says, mentally counting how many times the cannons have sounded since they had arrived.

But her count is off by one, and Ethel pays the ultimate price when Chic comes from under water and shoots his spike at her, the piece of metal going through her chest and ending her life almost immediately.

"Ethel!" They yell in unison and Jughead is the one who gets to her first, holding her lifeless body as Archie and Reggie charge at Chic, killing him quickly by slicing his throat before throwing his body back to the water, the sound of two cannons being fired filling the air.

"Fuck!" Archie screams in frustration, and Elizabeth pulls him to the side to calm him down.

"Why don't we take a couple of minutes to process what just happened and then we decide what our next move will be?" Toni suggests and the others are quick to agree, needing to just breathe for a moment to be able to come up with a plan.

Toni sits near Dilton, who seems to be in his own little world writing on the sand, and it doesn't take long before Cheryl is sitting next to her.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I would think that you like me. What with you being my personal superhero and saving my life twice in one day," the brunette jokes, and the soft chuckle that leaves Cheryl's lips fills her belly with butterflies.

"It wasn't that big of a deal," Cheryl replies with a shrug, and Toni can't help but roll her eyes.

"Well, it was a big deal for me because, you know, if it weren't for you I would be dead now, so  _thank you_ . I wish there was a way in which I could repay you," Toni says sincerely, truly wanting to do something for the redhead who has been her knight in shining armor since the games started mere hours earlier.

What she isn't expecting is for Cheryl to kiss her as a reply to her words, so it takes her brain a few seconds to catch up to her lips and kiss her back, but when she does she sighs into the redhead's soft lips before kissing her harder, their tongues joining the mix.

Toni had only kissed one other person before, and it had definitely not felt like this. She could just keep kissing Cheryl forever, but her lungs were asking for some oxygen, so they pulled apart after a few more seconds, both of them panting lightly.

"How is that for repayment?" Cheryl asks with her right eyebrow lifted playfully and Toni can't help but smile.

"I think that's a fair fare," she concludes before pecking the redhead's nose, making her giggle.

Their little bubble is burst by Dilton.

"I have a plan," he says without even looking up at them, his eyes still focused on whatever he had written on the sand.

Cheryl calls the rest of the team over and Dilton explains his plan. It sounds too simple and easy to be true, but he goes over his notes two more times and assures them that it's going to work, so they agree on doing it.

*****

Per Dilton's instructions, they walk for a while to the other side of the arena and into the jungle to the biggest tree they can find, the one that can be seen from any point in the built island.

Once at the correct spot, Dilton instructs Cheryl where and when she has to shoot her last explosive arrow, and after shooting a normal one first to make sure she got the spot right, they're ready to go.

As the explosive arrow touches the fake sky atop the tree and blows it up, Toni's eyes are on Cheryl, her gaze not even faltering by the fact that the arena is falling apart around them.

"Are you ready for whatever is waiting for us out there?" Toni hears Cheryl ask her as their eyes meet, but instead of answering her she's the one kissing her this time, a kiss full of promises for the future; a future she hopes they get to spend together.

When they pull apart, tanned thumbs are caressing blushed cheeks, and she can still feel the redhead's smile against her lips.

"I'm ready," she reassures her.

And when she feels cold fingers interlacing with her warm ones as they prepare to face the rest of the world, Toni knows without a doubt that she can win any war as long as she has Cheryl by her side.


End file.
